How to Hold a Crocodile [Paperback]

Diagram Group (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 1981

Explains how to do 188 practical and improbable things, such as sharpen scissors, tame a tarantula, interpret wine labels, photograph fish, make a mummy, and get an audience with the Pope.

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st Ballantine Books ed edition (October 12, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345295773
• ISBN-13: 978-0345295774
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,878,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Want to ride an ostrich or tell a cockatrice from a basilisk?, August 16, 2009

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Hold a Crocodile (Hardcover)

This book will amuse and amaze, but some of the information is wrong (mules have tails like horses, not donkeys) and there are many spelling and grammatical errors. It's not the "Encyclopedia Britannica," but "How to Hold a Crocodile' is fun to browse and is profusely illustrated. Opening the book at random, I find a full-page diagram on `How to read your palm' across from articles on `How to bring in the boar's head' and `How to bow Japanese style' (palms turned inward and resting on the thighs). The author says of the latter skill that anything more than a 30 degree bow and "you are either showing off or in so bad a spot that no amount of groveling can help you."

There is useful information in "How to Hold a Crocodile." I learned how to tighten loose screws (wrap strands of steel wool around the thread) and how to improvise an oil lamp out of cooking oil, a cork, and a piece of string (since we lose power four or five times a year), although I'll only need this skill if we run out of gas for the generator and can't find a flashlight.

There are also not-so-useful but interesting `how-to's such as holding the eponymous crocodile, taming a tarantula, and keeping storms away at sea (send a tortoiseshell cat to the top of your mast to scare away the storm demons).

If you are bored, you can learn how to play conkers (many of the skills in this book are peculiarly British), make music from teacups, blow a cork into a bottle (suck, don't blow), climb through a playing card, or tie a knot while holding both ends of a piece of string.

In the language of flowers (how to read), this book is a bouquet of thorn apples (deceitful charms), but held me peach-blossomed (captive) for several hours.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First off, you gotta get a good hold of the tail, May 31, 2001

By 

Mike Hurley (Lansing, MI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Hold a Crocodile (Paperback)

...then if it's small enough you drape it along your arm holding up it's weight. Also included calculating the date of Easter up to A.D.2000 Chinese nicotine-craving control, a few interesting games and my personaly #1 fave, a recipe for genuine Anglo-Saxon mead, a type of beer made from fermented hunny(sic).And a full menu in case you ever happen to have a panda over for dinner! For Catholics there are detailed instructions for becoming either Pope or a saint. My belief: being elected Pope is wayyy easier!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for Kids and Adults!, May 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Hold a Crocodile (Paperback)

What an interesting book! It is just filled with great projects for children to try - just to see if they will really work. Even as I got older, I enjoyed rereading it because of the hundreds of quirky (and sometimes useless) "How To:" articles!